6600GT PCI Express vs. noise

[josephclemente]

I now have a Leadtek 6600GT PCI Express video card installed in my computer.

The previous 6600GT was unbelievably loud. It was made by Albatron. Sounded like a hair dryer. It lasted 20 minutes in my computer.

The Leadtek sounds so much better. I have read that it is among the quietest of the current 6600GT's. But it is the loudest part of my computer and throws all my quietizing work out the window.

These 6600GT GPU's have an exposed core that must be handled with extreme care. Some reviews state that you should never, under any circumstances, touch the heatsink. With this in mind, I'm thinking about adding a Zalman fanmate to slow down the existing fan.

Has anyone modded their 6600GT (PCI Express version) to be more quiet? If so, what did you do?

[SometimesWarrior]

These 6600GT GPU's have an exposed core that must be handled with extreme care. Some reviews state that you should never, under any circumstances, touch the heatsink. With this in mind, I'm thinking about adding a Zalman fanmate to slow down the existing fan.

This image is from X-bit labs' article on overclocking the 6600GT. To me, the core doesn't look any more exposed than an Athlon XP's. They go on to mount a water block to the thing, so it can't be that fragile.

[JohnMK]

I replaced my XFX 6600 GT PCI-E's heatsink with the Zalman ZM80-D. Works like heaven.